The course targets level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the following skills:
Reading comprehension
Understanding texts related to the student’s field of interest and discipline, in particular popular science articles (identifying the structure, the main idea and the thread of the article, distinguishing main ideas from details, understanding technical information, inferring the meaning of a word from context), abstracts, and simplified scientific articles.
Oral/ Audio-visual comprehension
Understanding audiovisual materials related to the student’s field of interest and discipline: grasping the main ideas of complex talks both in content and form, on concrete or abstract topics, in standard language, including technical discussions in their field of specialization.
Reception Strategies
Recognizing clues and making inferences (both oral and written): using various comprehension strategies, including focusing on key points and checking understanding through contextual clues.
Written Production
Summarizing, in a formal register, a popular science article on familiar and unfamiliar topics in the student’s field of specialization; writing an abstract of a simplified scientific article.
Oral Production (delivering information, describing experiences, expressing feelings, arguing)
Presenting the content of popular science articles related to the student’s specialization, in clear and detailed language, with sufficient accuracy in both language and content; explaining the main points of an idea or issue with sufficient precision.
Clearly expressing opinions and/or feelings regarding the content of popular science articles related to their field of interest.
Oral Production with Interaction
Communicating with some fluency on familiar or less familiar topics related to personal interests and professional field; following clearly articulated speech addressed to them in everyday conversation, occasionally requiring repetition of certain words or expressions.
The ultimate goal of this course is to enable the student to progress from level B1+ to level B2 in the selected skills, aligning with the Bachelor's degree exit profile: written, oral, and audio-visual comprehension; written and oral production (individually and in interaction).
Course materials posted on WebCampus.
See course programme on WebCampus.
Additional exercises on WebCampus.
The course is taught in-person through interactive seminars in English. Regular attendance in class is essential and necessary for progress. Opportunities for practicing oral and written production are provided in every class.
The objectives and activities are designed in accordance with the philosophy of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Language communication is worked on, taking into account linguistic skills (vocabulary, syntax, phonology), sociolinguistic aspects (markers of social relations, etiquette rules, etc.), and pragmatic aspects (organization, adaptation, discourse structure) required for the target tasks. The course goes beyond mere linguistic knowledge considerations.
Special attention is paid to the student's workload, including the distribution of hours in class and the credits allocated to the course. Approximately one-third of the course credits (= 1 credit/3 = +/- 30 hours) will be conducted in-person with the instructor, while the remaining credits (= 2 credits = +/- 60 hours) will be completed remotely using the resources available on the WebCampus platform.
In practice:
Students review the texts (videos and/or articles) scheduled in the course programme and complete the assigned tasks before coming to class.
The final grade of the course is calculated as follows:
There is no exam in January. The January grade will reflect the continuous assessment of the first semester (= 15%).
The June exam (50%) consists of three parts and tests:
An absence or an attendance grade for any part of the exam will result in an absence or attendance grade for the entire evaluation.
For the August session, the student retakes the part(s) for which they did not achieve 10/20. Each part is weighted as follows:
Continuous assessment will no longer be considered.
An absence from or attendance grade for any part to be retaken will result in an absence or attendance grade for the whole assessment.
In case of another failure, all parts of the exam must be retaken the following year; partial grade transfers from one academic year to another are not allowed.
Important Note: Passing this course unit is non-certifying, meaning it does not certify that the student has achieved the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
| Training | Study programme | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Geology | Standard | 0 | 3 | |
| Bachelor in Geography : General | Standard | 0 | 3 | |
| Bachelor in Geography : General | Standard | 2 | 3 | |
| Bachelor in Geology | Standard | 2 | 3 |